"The Next...."
The following opinion piece was written by Swellnet reader 'blindboy'.
"I remember hearing about Kelly Slater when he was a young kid.............******* is in that league." - Barton Lynch, The Manly Daily, 28/9/2012
It all depends on context. Identifying a surfer as potentially the next Kelly Slater is an entirely reasonable thing to do among mates, after a few beers, when referring to an 18-year-old who has already won a couple of WQS events. Putting it in print, of course, is not wise. Consider the chances against anyone, ever, equalling Slater's achievements, factor that into your fearless prediction and guess what? The odds are overwhelming, you're wrong.
Now consider that Barton Lynch was referring to a 7 (yes as in 1,2,3,4,5,6,7!) year old, who had won the Under 8 division of his event, and the full absurdity of the comment becomes immediately apparent. Now the purpose of this is not to attack Barton Lynch. Not only am I convinced of his good intentions, I am equally sure that, all things considered, he ran a fine event and was a positive influence on all the young kids involved.
I am much less inclined to say anything positive about the role of The Manly Daily in, not only publishing the comments, but placing a large photo of the child in question on their front page. Events in other countries suggest we can't expect much in the way of ethical standards from News Ltd publications but that does not mean we should uncritically accept these lower standards.
I don't think you need a doctorate in child psychology to appreciate that it is extremely unwise to load these kinds of expectations onto a young child. In this case we would assume the parents to be sound, sensible people who will protect their child from delusions of grandeur, but not all parents are so wise, and not all children, even at that age, are amenable to such parental wisdom.
The real issue is, how do we want to treat our children? The reality of professional sport is that the search for talent extends to ever younger age groups. In surfing, this search is conducted by corporations rather than sporting clubs and that alone increases the risk of exploitation. Whatever benefits the child or parents may gain can be easily outweighed by the disadvantages of failing to meet those early expectations.
There is a common fallacy here. It occurs because success stories dominate the media, so we frequently hear of the unfailing power of positive thinking but rarely hear from those whom it has failed. The basic psychology is straightforward: The power of positive thinking is helpful when it is realistically based but is actually dangerous when it loses touch with reality. Google "Unstable High Self Esteem" some time.
Nor does our history offer us much encouragement. It is littered with future "Nat Youngs" and "Mark Richards" who quickly faded into obscurity or worse. If you've been around a while you can probably name some of the more spectacular burn outs or at least a few locals whose judgement was clouded by premature assessments of their prospects.
I don't doubt that things are somewhat better now. Like everything else, talent spotting is more professional but, as The Manly Daily managed to demonstrate, there is room for improvement. A Code Of Conduct for dealing with talented surfers in the various age groups would be a good start. If rule one should be, don't hail 7-year-olds as the next Kelly Slater, then rule two would have to be, take great care when talking to journalists.//blindboy
Comments
Well written and an interesting read. Happens in all fields of endeavour.
Tragic burnouts a la Herring or those that just havn't lived up to the hype heaped upon them. Jordy Smith comes to mind. Awesome surfer but the shine seems to have worn off already among others.
Seven years old!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in it.
Very good read. It's a fine line, isn't it? Between being thrilled for a child and ladening them with adult expectations. Parental reflection may well be the key, along with gentle critique such as the above.
Bloody hell, haters. and 'ya cynical jealous types,...
Since when was there anything wrong with a little marketing 101?
A bit of the old stick stirring the swill bucket?
"Since when was there anything wrong with a little marketing 101?"
When it's considered more important than the psychological wellbeing of a child.
Yeah this sounds like the ugly parent syndrome, soccer dads gone crazy. Lots more 7 yr olds on the way up waiting in the wings( they're only 5 now) and ready to pounce.
There will never be another Smelly Crater. Not in our time
But they're might be a few more A.I's or Nicky Wood.
Glad no one ever put that label on my kids or me, only cause I'm a wobbly kook boogie boarding leper but that shouldn't stop the marketing SPIN.
od,
kids are resilient. still, 'ya may want to cover the ears of groms for this one.
But they love you?
and they need money.....
zen,
for some of these religion fanatics,
money isn't everything they need.
This is a real issue in surfing as a whole to me.
How many seven year old contracted Rugby League or Rugby Union players are there? How many guys did you go to school with that represented at a top level of sport actually made a career of it, and of the few that make a career of it how many can actually claim all time great status?
Surfings messed up. These kids grow up with a false sense of entitlement because they've been handed everything on a silver platter and are consistently told how great they are. Have you ever tried surfing in a crowd of junior contestants?
And as much as you can shout otherwise there are almost always pushy parents behind them. I know because I have friends like this.
The child in question here had a shot of a rail slide on Stabs website the other day, I thought it was the stupidist thing, nothing more than a publicity stunt. For a 7 YEAR OLD! A non functional, set up photo shoot. Was that the kids idea? The first thouht that came to mind was what a waste of a surfboard. We have a 7 year old happy to destroy a board for a shot of him sliding a handrail in a pool. Seriously? How many less fortunate kids would cherish that board if they were given it? Wasteful and disrespectful, yes, but thats what surfing has become.
Just like religion get them while they are young and you have them for life. Nothing like lumping adult expectations on kids and all for pop music.
nothing new here... if your over 30, the far majority are dusted as a paid pro contestant. surfing has always been about the youth.
with that said, the individual still rules. so, let the young bucks garner as much crumbs as he or she can.
Read in an interview with James Catto recently that he stopped surfing for a while because he felt nervous what people watching would think if he didn't do something unbelievable every time he surfed!
Not trying to bag him personally but it's sad that this "have to be blowing minds or I won't surf" crap is what motivates some people as opposed to the pure enjoyment of surfing for what it is- being in the water and having fun.
And what sort of impression does that sort of thinking leave in the minds of kids who look up to such people as role models for their surfing futures? If you can't blow minds, quit!
Thanks for the positive comments and let's hope for a greater awareness of their responsibilities from all those in our sport who work with kids. The uncertain corporate futures of pro surfing's major sponsors provides another reason to exercise caution in raising expectations for young surfers. There could be far fewer opportunities in the coming decades than there have been in the recent past.
The interesting thing is how many of the pros - current and past - were recognised at a real young age. I can think of only Slater, Taj and Parko. Maybe Occy too. Even Mick Fanning was, by his own admission, more interested in soccer up to the age of about 16 or 17.
Malcolm Knox wrote a great article in the Monthly recently about kids who are talent scouted at a young age and grow up focussed on just one sport. Knox acknowledged that such focus may be necessary to make it but it also comes at the detriment of many other things in a child's life.
Personally I think the 'other things' are far more important than a long-shot at a pro career.
Any parent who wishes their kid was a pro surfer hasnt met too many pro surfers.
Talent development is one of those areas where there are few real guidelines. Even in well established and funded sports it is not unusual to have an 18 year old heralded as a potentially great player only for them to fade away without achieving what was claimed for them. If we look at the kind of programs offered in those sports they usually provide technical training and the opportunity to progress to ever higher levels, but in the end it is simply a process of elimination. For every hundred you start out with one or two will make it to the highest level.
What we do know is that early specialisation can cause overuse injuries. Heavy, highly focused training loads are a really bad idea up to about 18 and this becomes part of the process of elimination. Some kids will cope. The question parents and young athletes need to ask is "Do the benefits outweigh the risks?" I seem to remember Mark Richards having back problems related to the amount of surfing he did at an early age. I would bet that there have been plenty of less well known cases amongst the legions of contestants over the years.
That's it boxright pro surfers and sales assistants in surf shops .... so many heads so few brain cells. Little wonder the "corporate model" is on its head. The two decade long gravy train is derailing, the money is moving on and someone else will have to clean up the shit left behind. Have a cigar.
So many non-sequiturs....
Floyd, are you the Idiot Bunny's love child by any chance?
Are you one of the owls that live in the tree over my house? This is freaky.
Hoot, mon
back in the day, grommit abuse by locals was common practice.
nowdays, it seems this useful teaching tool has been outsourced back to the parents.
How true! I have the distinctly unquestionable advantage in regard to your opinion. The beach I first surfed and was my go to spot in high school, mostly because the beach next door is Torrance Beach, CA. You may have heard some of the names that emanated from there - ie Rick Irons etc.?
The name of my beach has been featured maybe once in my lifetime when Greg Noll showed one Easter Sunday to the throng of onlookers and a few takers, as 'Burn-Out' (that's the name of the beach I'm talking about) turned on for all who had skipped Sunday services at their respective churches unlike myself who had to attend, but soon after was allowed to quit - so I could spend Sundays practicing my new found obsession - (exceptions for any Muslims that may or may not have populated California back in 1964?)
Needless to say Greg shined in the 10 foot faces(some bigger - rare for So. Cal.)that brought a thrill and applause from the spectators lining the staircase and retaining curb just on top of the small cliff of the beach club that disappeared in a fire years before (hence the name Burn-Out) and the proof is still available in some Surf shops, Becker Surf Shop in Hermosa Beach for one, to this day.
I remained/and still am obsessed, but never became the next Kelly Slater.
Greg Noll. Legend
Some interesting quotes received in a press release from Billabong this morning. From the opening stanza:
"16 year-old teen surfing prodigy Jack Robinson (Margaret River, West Australia) has officially joined Billabong's international surf team, signing a lucrative deal for a minimum term of five years. Robinson is considered a 'once in a generation' talent and his potential has been compared to revolutionary surfing greats such as Martin Potter, Tom Curren, Mark Occhilupo and Kelly Slater."
I have met and surfed with young Jack on a few occasions, and one of my close mates has known him since he was a rug rat.
Yes, his talent is huge, but his ego is fucking massive (his surfing life has been one ego stroke after another)...unless he learns a thing or two about being humble, his path will be rocky indeed.
A comment futher up by Yorkes about Catto drpping out for a while through fear of not being able to impress. When Cat was really ripping ~ 20yrs, he was also partying with as much gusto (me too in the same circle). The peer group expected him to go hard at night, and back it up during the day...I saw much of that stress come out in some unexpected, and detrimental ways.
There was also a large photo on the cover of the Sun Herald in Sydney yesterday making similar claims about the youngest competitor in the Australian Open. This is completely inappropriate. The distance between a talented 16 year old and an established WCT surfer is huge.
Yeah I saw that BB. The surfer in question (Kai Hing) is on the Hurley team so I wasn't surprised to see it (SMH also ran an article on Mitch Crews a few days prior, so the PR team have been hard at work).
I saw jack Robbo in Hawaii recently and he didn't come across that way at all. Just a quiet surf stoked kid, with a sticker less board. Good luck to the little fella
That's great to hear, maybe some well timed enlightenment came his way.
But in saying that quik obviously had there reasons for dropping him given all the hype about him from taj, Kelly etc
Well, Taj has re-contributed to the hype in this morning's press release from Billabong:
”There’s not a better 16 year old on the planet that can ride the tube like he can, he’s as good as it gets. His style is solid too; he’s like a young Andy Irons. He loves surfing so much. He’s going to absolutely shine. I look forward to watching his surfing progress and I’m stoked he’s on the team,” said Burrow.
And, Billabong dragged Kelly into their press release too:
"A month ago in Hawaii, just a couple weeks after celebrating his 16th birthday, Jack paddled out at fabled big-wave spot, Sunset Beach, into the biggest surf ever contested for a junior event and won. Eleven-time World Champion Kelly Slater was among the guest commentary team and was not surprised by the outcome."
Burn out and pressure to perform on other peoples terms is another factor that gets ignored for profit.
I had a house mate in the late 90's in WA who was truley a freak surfer. Could have gone all the way. He surfed with power, speed, unexpected flair and could pull and stick huge airs. I saw him do crazy shit like take off fins first at 8' Margs Main break, kick flip half way down the face and proceed to tear the bag.
When I met him he had his comp 'head' on, but as time went on the pressure from others to perform got too much, he started to drop out of the WA and national comp scene.
He copped a fair amount of backlash for dropping out, especially from his BR club, as he was their trump card in winning club events.
So he spends the next 12 months just surfing, ripping it up, finding his passion again. We did trips to Margs, Jakes, Gnarloo, Bluff, all the best spots for quality, and the real surfing experience. By the end of this stint away from competition he was surfing better than ever.
He then gets swayed to compete again by his local club, blows em all out of the water and cops a backlash for fucking up their placing for the year...stepped on the egos of the "winners".
Then after that backlash has died down, they invite him back for the club event so they can almost guarantee a win. When he declines, and tells them exactly why, he gets labled the biggest cunt in the world. That was the beginning of the end, depression set in, only surfed a hand full of times, started drinking to self medicate and eventually gave surfing up for good, 1999 was his last surf. Now he is just a fat bogan going through the motions the life, sometimes wanting to get back out there but never able to follow through. I'm sure he is not alone.
That's sad..
The saddest thing of all was how his sponsors treated him. When he needed time away from competition, two of five sponsors dropped him like hot cakes. When his attempted come back failed, and the deprssion set in the final three dropped him with not a care in the world for his mental state, the worst of which was a big name WA wetsuit manufacturer. I was present in that particular meeting for moral support, the way he was spoken to was appalling, which I think went a long way to his final demise from surfing altogether.
Just received a press release from the Hurley BL’s Blast Off (held last week), which has this snippet:
"Hurley have seen major potential in young gun, Winter Vincent - a 9 year old kid from Manly - and have just added him to their rank of junior surf team riders.
In a couple of weeks’ time, he’ll be heading over to Indonesia with Hurley to support the initiative’s quest for clean drinking water in third world countries.
Between his incredible surfing talent, his impressive humanitarian work and rad little personality and drive, Hurley believe he is an ideal fit for the brand."
A 9 year old doing humanitarian work in third world countries for Hurley?
It just doesn't ring true on any level. As I said back then I am sure that the event itself is well run but putting out press releases on 8 or 9 year olds is inappropriate and the humanitarian aspect just comes across as plain loopy and amateurish PR.
The almighty dollar continues its destruction of all things that have potential for profit. Money money money....
I noticed that humanitarian/charity work angle starting to crop up with increasing frequency amongst young sponnoed surfers.
pretty fcuking cynical...and I know the backstory.